LG BH100 HD DVD / Blu-ray hybrid player (merged thread) (1 Viewer)

Looks like it's for real:

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/003408.html

It will be fascinating to see the specs. This could be THE player to buy.

I've thought all along, at least since it became apparent there would be no unified software format, that the universal hardware solution is what makes the most sense in the long run. Then both camps can have their patent royalties and consumers can choose a single-player solution.

I expect the first generation player will be quite expensive and its performance may not equal the better players of either format, but it's an important first step. Bring it on.

While they're at it they should make sure it also plays CD, DVD, DVD-A, and SACD.

A Universal player does not solve the problem of having two different formats.
Are stores supposed to stock separate Blu-ray and HDDVD sections, or mix the inventory together?
Are major hardware companies that have committed to one side now going to make combined players?

This may be a band-aid for the consumer, but it does not end the battle.

My 'plan' was to buy into HD DVD till BD came along & screwed the pooch. Since then, its been ultra-multi's all the way!
I predicted 2Q '06 combo's would appear a year after the first HD Disc player was released (2Q '07).
(this was not a GREAT leap of faith, even though Samsung's dual format player had already crashed & burned, LG had hinted for the first time a BD/HD DVD unit would be out B4 the end of '06)

CES is going to be BIG this year for me!
More & more 1080p displays & a Uni.
BRING IT!!!

A band-aid is GREAT, I was bleeding (at least my heart was for HD Disc ;-) ).

FYI, discs have be proposed that will have SD DVD, BD, & HD DVD. So one SKU ("inventory") for all three formats is possible today. Of coarse, SD DVD/HD DVD discs are on the market today.

I don't know if "major hardware companies that have committed to one side now going to make combined players".
And, I don't care!
Let Sony and all still only make BD/SD DVD players.

I'll take a combo player from Oppo, LG, Onkyo, Denon, Newcastle, Marantz, JVC, NAD, Rega, Music Hall, and any & all of the highend player makers!

I'm SURE Samsung is DYING to make a combo after its disaster BD player. That $1000US player just dropped its MSRP to $799US & can be found for even less on the street ($699). After Sony threw Samsung under the bus & even w/the fixed chip setting problem.

vvv

the sammy player is now $599 at amazon...

Actually, it will solve the problem completely.

After a short period of infighting, Almost all companies will convert over to using HD-DVD for smaller releases like catalog titles where a film and a couple trailers suffice, and using BR 50's for forever well-selling blockbusters, extremely long movies, and new releases with special edition features.

BR 25's will disappear as they'll be unnecessary, except for perhaps Fox and Disney who won't like the security on HD-DVD.

All three will coexist with consumers not paying any attention at all. Only for the short term will studios continue to support both format(Warners, Paramount), and only short term will the BR studios avoid HD-DVD. At some point, cost per gigabyte will make HD-DVD the defacto small disk standard and BR 50's will be the defacto big disk standard. At some point, it'll just make no sense to support BR 25's as the HD-DVD 30's are simply more cost effective when both can be used interchangably, even after price-parity is reached.

If LG releases a Uni the format war is over. Others will follow, and consumers won't have to worry about which is which.

Agreed.
The situation will be the same as for DVD R+ and DVD R- now. I don't care what disc I receive, it's only interesting for those who burn the things.

And we'll get some interesting threads here like "Anyone have problems with the LG xxxx playing BD?" or "Audio stutter with TrueHD on Sony BD yyyy", etc.


Cees

If the LG universal player actually hits the market and handles both formats well, then much of what you say could become reality. A universal player handling CD/DVD/SACD/DVD-A/HD DVD/Blu-ray would be tempting to all of us that want to continue playing the old digital formats. I am still skeptical it will actually happen and a universal player with subpar performance for any given format won't be so desirable. Who knows what problems exist to make it actually a market worthy product?

Chris

More links:
LG Officially Announces HD DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Player to launch in Q1 2007
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-...yer-225924.php
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engn...4110044E0.html

Definitely good news from my point of view. Add this to the Warner announcement of the combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD disc and we're seeing unification all around. It could actually save physical HD media from the threat of downloadable content distrobution.

I don't see that this ends the war so much as it allows you to purchase movies without fear of having a "dead" format and having to keep an obsolete player around just to play the movies.

I think the only people who will be disappointed by this are those who have been anxious for one format to achieve “total victory”.

I have a much different take on this:

Great, just when the prices on the $1,000 1080p progressive players (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray now that Toshiba finally has has a 1080p just-as-expensive-as-blu-ray model out) prices start to fall, these combo players will debut for half again more or twice the price of the single-format players, slowing adoption even more since people will want to wait for the prices of the HYBRID players to fall. Just as the availability of titles will likely tip in favor of Blu-ray. Less software purchases, less hardware puchases...as the consumer WAITS.

Format War...extended!

HD optical disc adoption...extended!

The Panasonic Blu-ray and the PS3 still seem to be by far the most friendly HD players for Blu-ray, not much to choose from for HD-DVD (at least you don't have to worry so much about getting the right one), so good luck on that LG running smoothly out of the box when it has to deal with TWO formats, but you never know....

I'm anxious to hear what 2nd generation player(s) Panasonic announces Monday, but now that the hybrid players are going to muck up the works, I'm not as excited as I was.

This will ensure HD is the next laserdisc for a long while. Which I'd be ok with as long as it stuck around and I end up with the right format player. It'll be a long time until I can afford a decent hybrid I'll bet.

In short, I guess combos are good for consumers looking to go HD in a couple years, but I wanted to jump in THIS year. (Though there is the possibility the combos will price themselves out of contention, or will they just sell them at a major loss? LG can't really do that since they're not selling software, right?) Now, it just looks like it will take that much longer for any kind of stability to be achieved in the market.

If they're expensive and anyone wants HD now, they'll just be picking between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray just like they do today. (Perhaps combos will be the 2nd HD player purchase of choice down the road though.) I don't see how a combo is going to debut at $500-$600, which is what it would have to do at this point to garner enough attention. And that's assuming it was actually a quality (or better, clean performing) unit. A big assumption, especially with all the quirks in most 1st gen product out now.

Were a Panasonic Blu-ray player that lived up to the 1st gen model, and added HDMI 1.3 (and the decoding that is coming in a few months for the 1st-gen) to become available for $600 in the near future, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. $500 would be better of course, but I'd pay more if it was still better than the other offerings. But now with combo players on the horizon, I'm afraid the HD disc wars will drag on so long that both formats will die due to consumer neglect.

Interesting idea, effectively having the studios merge the formats, using HD-DVD for some releases, Blu-ray for another, but I don't see something like that happening for a long, long time, especially if copy-protection is an issue, as was mentioned already. Fox and Disney likey their Blu-ray. If only some studios did it, like WB and Paramount, the likely contenders, what's the point?

Where is PeterTHX? He has stated many times that a universal player would NEVER EVER happen.

More info. It seems it is no longer a rumur.

I'll check it out up close and personal

And be sure to take some good high resolution pictures for us to drool over.

I disagree.

First, one could safely purchase a single-format player with the certainty that their newly aquired discs wouldn't be coasters in a year, giving the Uni player time to drop in cost.

Second, it could be using that Broadcom refracting plate(Or whatever it is) that permits a single laser to function for both formats. Which would be significantly cheaper than a dual laser setup.

I also suspect that a large part of the cost of the players now is the silicon, not the lasers themselves, and there already exists a number of chips capable of handling both formats on one die. I've read of at least two or three in the last year. So we'd only be talking at most the increase of the second laser if Broadcoms tech isn't used.

Additionally, Broadcom stated they'd been in talks with manufacturers to license their tech, it's likely we're looking at one of those manufacturers.

This is good news....if anything it at all it helps promote the HD optical formats. Most people have never heard of it, the more behind it, the more it becomes mainstream. Might take awhile, but that's ok.